Sunday morning glory! What a turns a goodmorning into a great morning? Yes, that's right: coffee. And even better: a coffee tasting! Sunday February 3 gave 10 selected coffee-lovin' Elites a different view on coffee and Starbucks The Bank!
First things first: when a Yelp Elite is to be expected at an Elite Event Sunday mornings 11 AM, it's best that they ride in style... Uber (recently launched in The Netherlands) was so kind to play with us: We didn't tell the Elites where they needed to go that morning, they could order an exclusive Uber taxi, utter the Magic Word "Yelp" and the drivers knew where they needed to go. Can you imagine? You're being picked up at your house, you only know that there will be coffee involved, there's a super-de-luxe car (water, magazines, and free WiFi on board) that takes you there! And 1-2-3-, you're at Starbucks The Bank! Oh yes, we love to ride in style...
We started off with a tour; how much fun to learn about the history of coffee, to learn that the Dutch smuggled coffee plants in the 17th Century to grow coffee on their own (we naughty Dutchies), to hear about why it's called 'The Bank' (it used to be the vault of the bank ABN Amro that was previously located here), and their vision on using 'natural' elements for their interior & design; it gives this Starbucks a 'warm' atmosphere and it's just plainly gezellig! Perfect to sit here with your laptop, having coffee with friends, playing different boardgames (they store them in the cupboard downstairs), and leave your kids in the 'play area'. Also, did you know they organize several events on Friday nights here? They are mini-concerts from local bands & musicians! And they give truly interesting coffee tastings....
We were with a selected group and I honestly must say: we learnt that there is so much more to coffee than just grounded-beans-in-the-morning! Laurie told us about the influence of 'location' on the same type of bean; Kenya vs. Guatamala, Sumatra vs. Ethiopia, and 'sundried' beans or regular coffee beans? We could clearly taste the difference, and Yelp had made a special ranking sheet' so that you could make notes to remember which aromas you like. Speaking of tasting coffee: you need to slurrrrrrp the coffee, make as much sound as possible, and needless to say: we slurped away! Then, there are also various way to make your coffee: There's the "French Press" (a.k.a Cafetière), the "Pour Over" (a.k.a. the 'oldfashioned' way of making filtered coffee), and there is the Clover: a highly advanced, almost magical machine that brings out the best flavour in your coffee. There are only 2 of these machines in Europe and with pride we can say: we have it here in Amsterdam!
Dear Jeroen & Laurie, thank you so much for a truly fantastic way of spending our Sunday mornings! It was fun, educational, and very exciting!

Dear Georgina, Alli, Nick, Janine, Maarten, Frank, Dennis, and Barbara, thank you for joining this coffee adventure, it's always such a pleasure to experience new events with you!